The origins of Chicken Fried Steak are a little murky, but conventional wisdom generally believes German immigrants to Texas in the early- to mid- 19th Century invented Chicken Fried Steak as a way to not only enjoy something similar to the Viennese/German dish Wienerschnitzel (traditionally a breaded and fried veal cutlet), but also to make tough cuts of beef palatable. (As we know, bovine back then weren’t the chemically enhanced behemoths we know and eat today; they were just as hardscrabble as the land and the people living on it.)

Another story is that it was accidentally invented by a short order cook in Lamesa, Texas, in 1911. When a waitress turned in an order for “chicken, fried steak”, the cook, Jimmy Don Perkins, misread it. He dipped the steak in the fried chicken batter, and a legend was born.

One of my favorite food writers, Robb Walsh, describes 3 different types of Chicken Fried Steak in his book, Texas Eats: 1) The Southern/East Texas version is dipped in egg and then flour, similar to the way Southern fried chicken is prepared; 2) Central Texas’s version is made with bread crumbs rather than flour, much like Weinerschnitzel; 3) A West Texas version that is made without dipping the meat in egg; this is related to what cowboys called pan-fried steak.

Robb Walsh also talks about the three most common ways people mess up a Chicken Fried Steak: 1) Over- or Under-seasoning – “If you use a salty seasoned flour for the batter, the steaks end up too salty. Underseasoning is just as bad. Even the batter on a perfectly cooked steak can taste pasty if it isn’t seasoned”; 2) Too much tenderizing – The ratio of batter to meat is crucial, and it’s determined by the thickness of the meat. If you pound the meat too flat, the steak is all batter and the steak is overcooked by the time the crust is done [this also leads to the meat shrinking in the crust].” ; and, 3) Overheating the oil – To cook a Chicken Fried Steak so the crust is golden and the meat is cooked trough, it is critical to keep the temperature of the oil at around 350F.

My recipe is much like the Southern/East Texas Version. It’s what I grew up eating and the one that most people know.

A few notes:

1. The best cut of meat for a chicken fried steak is going to be round steak. It’s a flavorful, lean, and relatively cheap cut of beef. You can buy it in the grocery already tenderized (where it may also be called “cube steak”). If you buy it un-tenderized, you’ll need to do it yourself with a tenderizing mallet. It looks like a square hammer with spikes on each end of the mallet’s head. You very likely have one in the recesses of your knife drawer.

2. It’s best to have everything at room temperature before you start. This way, everything cooks at the same speed and there will be less chance of the meat being cooked improperly.

3. You don’t want to have too much breading on your steak. If you have too much breading, it’ll take too long for it to cook all the way through and the steak will overcook and shrink.

4. Correct fat temperature is important when frying. If the oil is too cool, the breading will soak up the oil and you end up with a greasy steak. If it’s too hot, the coating will burn before the meat is cooked. The fat but come to a full sizzle when you put the steaks in. Proper frying temperatures help seal the coating and keep as much of the oil out as possible while still cooking everything evenly.

5. This goes for overcrowding the skillet, too. Don’t do it. The oil temperature will drop too much and the steaks won’t cook properly.

6. Purists will be appalled, but if you like, you can substitute chicken (Chicken Fried Chicken) or pork (Chicken Fried Pork) in place of the beef.

7. Speaking of appalled purists, I genreally do my frying in an electric skillet. It’s much easier for me to control the temperature of the oil. Purists, however, will insist on using a cast iron skillet. It’s up to you.

8. You have to have gravy. Period. There are no exceptions to this rule.

1. Mix together the flour and spices in a large, shallow bowl or on a large plate. Set aside.

The spices waiting to be mixed into the flour.

Done. Be sure to mix as thoroughly as possible; especially if your spices (esp. the cayenne) are a little lumpy.

Beat together the buttermilk and eggs in a large bowl. Set aside.

Eggs and buttermilk batter. Be sure that you beat the eggs thoroughly so the whites are completely broken down and incorporated.

2. Take each steak and dip it first in the flour and lightly coat. Be sure to shake off any excess.

The first dip. This will help the batter adhere to the steak.

Next, dip the steak in the batter and coat completely. Take the steak out of the batter and allow the extra liquid to dip off.

Make sure the steak is completely submerged in the batter.

Dip the steak back into the flour and evenly coat all over. You want to be sure there aren’t any wet spots.

Nicely coated.

Shake off any excess flour. Lay the steaks out in a single layer on a rack. (This will help allow air circulation around the steaks and help keep them fairly dry.)

The steaks on a rack. If there are any wet spots, be sure to sprinkle a little flour on them.

3. Have a 1″ depth of fat in a large skillet. Heat the fat to 375F, or until flour sprinkled in the oil immediately sizzles (but doesn’t burn) or a drop of water will make the oil pop (be careful of oil spatter).

4. Once the oil has heated to the correct temperature, take the steaks, no more than 2 at a time, for 5 – 7 minutes total, turning once. The temperature will immediately drop once you put in the steaks, so be sure to adjust the temperature as necessary to keep the fat at 350F. (This is the optimal temperature to cook the steaks without making the batter soggy or overcooking the batter before the meat is done.)

Don’t overcrowd the pan. The temperature of the oil will drop too far and will result in a soggy, greasy steak.

After flipping. You only want to flip once to maintain the crust.

Take the finished steaks out of the oil and either place back on the rack to drain (my preferred method) or place on paper towels to drain.

After each batch is done, raise the heat back up to 375F before adding the next batch. Again, after adding the steaks to the fat, be sure to keep the temperature at 350F.

Well, hello.

After the steaks are done, carefully drain off all but 1/4 c. of the drippings and saving any cracklings that may be in the skillet and make the gravy.

A note on the gravy: A good gravy can enhance your Chicken Fried Steak and a bad gravy can ruin it. You want a thick, creamy texture (but not pasty), a deep flavor (there are few things worse than a lumpy, bland, pasty gravy), and just the right amount of seasoning (over-salting is a common mistake).

Making good gravy is something that takes patience and practice. If you make this recipe for the first time and are a little unsure, just serve it on the side. You’ll do better next time.

Cream Gravy

1/4 c. pan dripping (if you have some nice cracklings too, great)

1/4 c. flour

2 c. whole milk, room temperature or warm

1 tbsp. black pepper

1 tsp. salt, or to taste

The drained skillet. I left some of the browned flour in with the fat. Just be sure that anything you leave in the skillet isn’t burnt.

1. Heat the pan drippings over medium heat (about 350F if you’re using an electric skillet). Add the flour and make a roux. You’re looking for something between a blonde- and peanut butter- colored roux.

Adding the flour.

Making the roux. You don’t want the roux too dark because the darker the flour, the less thickening strength it will have.

2. Whisk in the milk and cook the gravy until it smooths out and thickens. Whisk in the salt and pepper. Taste for seasoning. If you want a thinner gravy, add a bit more milk.

Whisking in the milk. Be sure to whisk constantly at this point so the roux and milk are completely incorporated.

A nice, smooth, not-too-thick not-too-thin cream gravy.

3. Serve over (or next to) the Chicken Fried Steak and whatever else is on the plate.

I’ve been feeling sentimental lately thinking about the foods from my childhood years. I’d forgotten how good some of them were and still are. It must also come with the realization that I’ve hit middle age and how I really need to eat healthier.

Kidra is another one of those dishes from our childhood that my sisters and I remember fondly. It was an every-once-in-a-while dish; it was never one of Mom’s favorites, so we didn’t have it too often. But, when we did have it, my sisters and I would gorge.

Traditionally, it’s a recipe that is baked in a large narrow-necked clay pot called a tanour (التنور). The pot was filled with the ingredients, sealed with a flour and water paste, and buried in an oven built into the sand where it was left to cook for hours and up to overnight. Once cities started growing, people would send not only their bread to the bakeries, but their tanour pots as well. In some very remote areas, the Bedouin still cook Kidra this way.

Now, many families have tanours made of lined copper that can be placed in the oven or on the stove (my parents have one) and it generally takes less than an hour for the Kidra to cook.

This is dish cooked all through the Palestinian regions and families in the Middle East, but it is most popular in Gaza, where, from what I can tell, the dish originated.

A few notes:

1. If you don’t have a tanour, don’t worry. I don’t either. I used my Dutch oven. It works well.

2. Lamb is the most traditional meat to use in this dish. You can use beef if you prefer. Either way, be sure to use a stew meat (shoulder, round).

3. Some people will use saffron or osfour (the stamen of the safflower) to give the dish a yellow color. It is totally optional. My parents never used either of these in this recipe, so I don’t either.

4. Another traditional ingredient in this recipe is whole heads of garlic that are added just before the tanour goes into the oven. My parents never used garlic in their Kidra. After doing some research, I decided I wanted to add garlic in my own recipe. However, instead of whole heads of garlic, I use peeled cloves. I like it.

Again, this is completely optional.

5. If you don’t have whole cardamom pods for this dish, it will be fine without them. However, you do miss out on some of the traditional flavor if you don’t use them.

6. While white rice is most commonly used, you can use brown long-grain rice (brown basmati works well). Just add an additional 1/2 cup of liquid and add 15 -20 minutes to the cooking time.

7. You can make this vegetarian by using vegetable broth or water, omitting the meat, and adding more chick peas and/or fava beans. If you’d like to add some green, use fresh green beans (not haricot vert) and saute them at the same time as you would the chick peas.

1. Preheat the oven to 325F. In a medium bowl, toss the meat with the spices.

Spiced lamb.

2. In a Dutch oven, or, if you’re lucky, you have a tanour, heat the olive oil over medium-high heat. Brown the meat in batches; you want to get a good sear on the meat. If you crowd the pan, they will simply steam.

Browning the meat. Don’t crowd the pan or instead of a nice brown crust, you’ll end up with grayed steamed meat.

After each batch of meat is browned, take it out of the Dutch oven and set it aside. Repeat until all of the meat is done.

The finished (so far) meat. I just put it in the overturned Dutch oven lid. It’s a Dad thing.

3. Saute the onions and garlic in the Dutch oven, about 5 minutes. If you need to keep the brown bits on the bottom from burning, add about 1/4 cup of water or broth to help deglaze the pan. (It doesn’t have to be an exact measurement. Just eyeball it.) Stir frequently.

Cooking the onion and garlic. If you need to, like I did here, add a little water or broth to deglaze the pan to keep the lovely browned bits from burning.

4. Add the rice and cook for another 2 – 3 minutes. Stir constantly.

Adding the rice.

Add the chick peas and cook another 2 – 3 minutes. Again, stir often.

Adding in the chick peas.

Then add back in the meat, cardamom pods, and the water or broth.

Adding the meat, cardamom pods, and broth.

5. Bring the water or broth to a boil on the stove. Cover the Dutch oven and place it on the middle rack in the oven and bake for 30 – 45 minutes, or until the liquid has been absorbed and the rice is cooked.

In the oven.

Alternately, you can cook this fully on the stove (especially of you don’t have an oven-safe pot) on low heat for about 45 minutes, or, again, until the liquid has been absorbed and the rice is cooked.

Stuffed Grape Leaves. In Arabic, محشي ورق عنب, or, spelled phonetically, mishi waraq ‘einab. It was another one of those dishes my sisters & I ate gleefully growing up. When Mom would make stuffed grape leaves, it was cause for great rejoicing. Especially for Dad.

Many know the Greek word, Dolmas. Dolma comes from the Turkish word “dolmak” meaning “to be stuffed”. In Arabic, “mishi” means “stuffed”. There are literally dozens of variations of stuffed grape leaves all over the Middle East, the Mediterranean, the Balkans, Central Europe, and Central Asia.

Probably the most common way to make the grape leaves is to cook them in an olive oil – lemon juice based-sauce. However, the way I was taught to make grape leaves was the way my grandmother made them; with a tomato-based sauce.

I was talking to my mom about this one day. She said the first time she ever ate grape leaves, the sauce was made from sour grapes. She said it was awful. The next time she had the dish, my dad had made it the way he preferred and the way his mother made them – with tomatoes.

I like to call it Palestinian-style.

**********************

If you would like to make this dish vegetarian/vegan, substitute an equal amount of roasted eggplant for the meat, vegetable broth for the beef broth, and add 1/4 cup tomato paste to the stuffing (this will help the filling bind together).

If you would like to use brown rice in place of the white rice, be sure to add 20 – 30 minutes to the cooking time.

The grape leaves. Be sure to rinse them thoroughly after removing them from the brine; otherwise, the end result will be like a salt lick.

1 jar grape leaves

1 lb. ground lamb or beef

2 c. long-grain white rice

2 tsp. salt, or to taste

1 tsp. ground black pepper, or to taste

2 tsp. allspice, or to taste

3/4 tsp. cinnamon, or to taste

Lamb shanks, lamb chops, or beef short ribs, optional

1 large can (22 oz.) whole tomatoes

2 c. beef broth

1. Take a large saucepan or stockpot and place a rack on the bottom. If you don’t have a rack, use a steamer that sits in the saucepan. (I like to use my pasta pot with the insert.) This is done not only to keep the grape leaves off the bottom to keep them from burning but to help steam the stuffed leaves as they’re cooking.

If you are using shanks, chops, or ribs, place them on the rack or steamer. Set aside.

My dad always used chops or shanks in the bottom of the steamer. It adds a lot of flavor to the final dish. Plus, it’s an extra treat.

2. Carefully take the grape leaves out of the jar (take care not to rip the leaves) and rinse thoroughly. You want to be sure that the brine is rinsed off. Usually, you will need to separate the leaves when rinsing. I’ll also fill a large bowl with water and let the leaves soak for a few minutes, then drain. You want the water to be as clear as possible.

3. Parboil the rice: In a large saucepan, place the rice and cover it with 1″ of water. Over high heat, bring the water to a boil, stirring frequently to keep the rice from sticking.

Parboiling the rice. Be sure to stir frequently to be sure it doesn’t stick to the bottom of the pot.

Boil the rice until it is about halfway cooked (take some rice out of the water and test it; it should be slightly chewy with a very crunchy center). Drain the rice in a colander and set aside until it is cool enough to handle.

The finished rice. Let this sit until it’s cool enough to handle.

4. In a large bowl, mix together the meat and rice (it’s best to use your hands for this). Add the spices and mix thoroughly.

Starting to mix together the rice and meat. It’s best done with your hands.

After adding the spices. My mom says she knows when it’s seasoned right because of the smell. I’ve not yet mastered that skill.

To taste for seasoning, take a small amount of the mixture and place in a hot skillet to cook (the flavor will be closer to what the finished dish will taste like). Adjust the spices to your taste.

Cooking a small sample to taste for seasoning. I also consider this cook’s treat.

5. Once you have finished mixing the filling, it’s time to stuff the leaves. Which I will explain in the following photos. (My husband took these photos across from me. I rotated them so you could see them from my perspective. So, admittedly, they may look a little skewed. Apologies.)

The most important thing to remember is to not wrap the leaves too tight. You want snug, but not tight. The rice will continue to expand when the stuffed leaves are cooked. If you wrap them too tight, they’ll burst. Conversely, if you wrap them too loosely, they’ll fall apart. A happy medium is preferred.

1. Cut off the stem with a sharp knife.

2. Lay the leaf flat with the vein (rough) side up facing you.

3. Take some of the stuffing (this was a large leaf, so I used about 2 tablespoons stuffing), press it together loosely into a sort of log shape. Please it on the bottom 1/3rd of the leaf.

4. Take one half of the bottom and fold it over the stuffing. ( I usually go right to left.)

5. Repeat with the other side. The stuffing should be covered.

6. Now, fold the sides over the filling.

7. Repeat with the other side.

8. Now, finish rolling the leaf until the stuffing is fully enclosed.

9. Done! Now, do this another 40 times or so. You want to be sure that the amount of filling you use is proportional to the size of the leaf.

6. As you make each roll, place it in the pot. When you are about halfway through, crush a few of the tomatoes with your hands and lay them on the finished leaves. Pour on some of the tomato juice. Finish stuffing the remaining leaves. Crush the remaining tomatoes and place them on top. Pour over the rest of the tomato juice and the beef broth.

The grape leaves in the pot ready to cook.

7. Cover the pot and bring the liquid to boil over high heat. Lower the heat to low, keep the pot covered, and cook until the rice and meat are cooked, about 30 – 45 minutes. You’ll need to take one out to test.

8. When the grape leaves are cooked, place a serving on a plate, carefully pull out one of the shanks or ribs, and spoon out some of the broth to pour over the leaves on the plate. You can also have some yogurt and pita bread on the side.

Sahtein!

Admittedly, this is a dish that does take some time to put together. But, the results are well worth it.

Chili. A word that can stir up passions usually reserved for first love or politics.

There are as many recipes for chili as there are families in the Southwestern US. In Texas, we make “Chili Con Carne” – basically a spicy meat stew with chiles, spices, lots of meat, and maybe some tomato. But no beans. That would be sacrilege. In New Mexico and California, you can find green chili, “Chili Verde”, usually made with chicken or pork. If one would like beans in their chili, you can go vegetarian.

The other well-known of chilis are:

a) “Cincinnati Chili”: made with a variety of Greek and Middle Eastern spices. It was invented by a Greek Immigrant, Tom (Athanas) Kiradjieff, in 1922. He originally used the chili at his hot dog stand. When that didn’t work, he started to use it as a type of spaghetti sauce. It is now one of Ohio’s most beloved foods.

b) “Springfield Style Chilli”: This Southern Illinois style ground-meat, with beans, is very different from Texas chili. The spelling supposedly comes from a disagreement between the owner of the Dew Chilli Parlor, Dew Brockman, and his sign painter. Another legend has the spelling mimics the first four letters of “Illinois”.

c) “Chasen’s Chili” The owner of Chasens, Dave Chasen, made probably the most famous chili in California. He kept the recipe a secret, trusting it to no one. He always made it a week in advance and froze it, feeling that would make a better chili when it was reheated. The original Chasen’s opened in 1936 and closed in 1995. The second version of Chasen’s closed permanently in 2000.

Like many other dishes that become loved over time, it was a dish made out of desperation and necessity. There are many legends and stories about where chili originated and it is generally thought, by most historians, that the earliest versions of chili were made by the very poorest people.

“When they have to pay for their meat in the market, a very little is made to suffice for a family; this is generally into a kind of hash with nearly as many peppers as there are pieces of meat – this is all stewed together.” – C.J. Clopper, remarking on San Antonio Chili, 1926.

According to an old Southwestern American Indian legend and tale. It is said that the first recipe for chili con carne was put on paper in the 17th century by a beautiful nun, Sister Mary of Agreda of Spain. She was mysteriously known to the Indians of the Southwest United States as “La Dama de Azul,” the lady in blue. It is said that sister Mary wrote down the recipe for chili which called for venison or antelope meat, onions, tomatoes, and chile peppers.

On March 9, 1731, a group of sixteen families (56 persons) arrived from the Canary Islands at Bexar, the villa of San Fernando de Béxar (now know as the city of San Antonio). They had emigrated to Texas from the Spanish Canary Islands by order of King Philip V. of Spain. The King of Spain felt that colonization would help cement Spanish claims to the region and block France’s westward expansion from Louisiana. These families founded San Antonio’s first civil government which became the first municipality in the Spanish province of Texas. According to historians, the women made a spicy “Spanish” stew that is similar to chili.

By the 19th Century, some Spanish priests were said to be wary of the passion inspired by chile peppers, assuming they were aphrodisiacs. A few preached sermons against indulgence in a food which they said was almost as “hot as hell’s brimstone” and “Soup of the Devil.” The priest’s warning probably contributed to the dish’s popularity.

In 1850, records were found by Everrette DeGolyer (1886-1956), a Dallas millionaire and a lover of chili, indicating that the first chili mix was concocted around 1850 by Texan adventurers and cowboys as a staple for hard times when traveling to and in the California gold fields and around Texas. Needing hot food, the trail cooks came up with a sort of stew. They pounded dried beef, fat, pepper, salt, and the chile peppers together into stackable rectangles which could be easily rehydrated with boiling water. This amounted to “brick chili” or “chili bricks” that could be boiled in pots along the trail. DeGolyer said that chili should be called “chili a la Americano” because the term chili is generic in Mexico and simply means a hot pepper. He believed that chili con carne began as the “pemmican of the Southwest.”

It is said that some trail cooks planted pepper seeds, oregano, and onions in mesquite patches (to protect them from foraging cattle) to use on future trail drives. It is thought that the chile peppers used in the earliest dishes were probably chilipiquín0, which grow wild on bushes in Texas, particularly the southern part of the state.

There was another group of Texans known as “Lavanderas,” or “Washerwoman,” that followed around the 19th-century armies of Texas making a stew of goat meat or venison, wild marjoram and chile peppers.

By 1860, residents of the Texas prisons in the mid to late 1800s also lay claim to the creation of chili. They say that the Texas version of bread and water (or gruel) was a stew of the cheapest available ingredients (tough beef that was hacked fine and chiles and spices that was boiled in water to an edible consistency). The “prisoner’s plight” became a status symbol of the Texas prisons and the inmates used to rate jails on the quality of their chili. The Texas prison system made such good chili that freed inmates often wrote for the recipe, saying what they missed most after leaving was a really good bowl of chili.

In 1893, Texas chili went national when Texas set up a San Antonio Chili Stand at the 1893 Columbian Exposition in Chicago.

In 1895, Lyman T. Davis of Corsicana, Texas made chili that he sold from the back of a wagon for five cents a bowl with all the crackers you wanted. He later opened a meat market where he sold his chili in brick form, using the brand name of Lyman’s Famous Home Made Chili. In 1921, he started to can chili in the back of his market and named it after his pet wolf, Kaiser Bill and called it Wolf Brand Chili (a picture of the wolf is still used on the label today).

By the 1880’s, San Antonio was a wide-open cattle, army, and railroad town. At the center of all the activity were the “Chili Queens” selling their wares on the Plaza, feeding the cowboys, soldiers, and railway workers. Even the tourists enjoyed the novelty of the Chili Queens. It was a delicious, slightly exotic, homemade, cheap meal served from colorful carts for a dime. By 1937, however, the era of the Chili Queens was over when the San Antonio Department of Health decreed that outside food stands had to be held to the same sanitation standards as restaurants. The Chili Queens disappeared overnight.

There are many chili cook-offs all over the country (http://www.chilicookoff.com/). The oldest and biggest of these is held in Terlingua, Texas every first weekend of November. This year will be 46th annual. It’s a wonderful mix of carnival, party, and really good food.

They type of chili made in cook-offs are quite different from chilis made at home. In competition, a chili has to make a quick and lasting impression on judges who might be tasting dozens of chilis in a sitting. They tend to be more highly spiced, hotter, and saltier. Chili made at home tends to be quite a bit milder. Depending on the recipe and cook.

The main component in chili, besides meat, is chili powder. Legend is that two different men, DeWitt Clinton Pendry in Fort Worth and William Gebhardt in San Antonio, invented spice blends to sell to restaurants, and later to consumers. This was a way to make chiles available year-round by drying and grinding them as opposed to them being available only seasonally. There are dozens of different types of blended chili powders on the market. You can also find single-ingredient chile powders, like Ancho or Chipotle.

Also, chili as we know it is not known in Mexico. The recipe may have originated with the Spanish and been brought to Texas by the Mexican people already living here, but it is a purely American dish. In effect, one of the original Tex-Mex recipes. In Mexico, chili is defined as “detestable food passing itself off as Mexican, sold in the US from Texas to New York”.

Now, to the recipe.

This is my own. It came over many attempts of trial and error. It is a traditional Texas-style chili. No beans.

1. Heat the oil in a stockpot over medium-high heat. Add the meat and cook, stirring frequently, until it is no longer pink.

Browning the meat

Add the onion & garlic and continue cooking until the onions are soft.

Cooking the meat with the onions and garlic

2. Add the tomato paste and cook until it is well blended with the meat, onions and garlic.

3. Add the spices and mix in with the meat, onions, and garlic. Cook until the spices begin to have a scent, about 1 – 2 minutes.

Meat after the spices and tomato paste are added

4. Mix in the can of tomatoes, with their juice, and just enough beef broth to cover the meat. Cover and bring to a boil.

After the tomatoes and broth are added

5. Once the chili comes to a boil, uncover the pot, turn the heat down to low and simmer, stirring occasionally. Cook until the meat is tender, about 1 to 1-1/2 hours.

After 30 minutes

After 1 hour

6. At the end if the cooking time, add the masa slurry to the chili and blend in thoroughly. Cook for about 5 more minutes to let the chili thicken slightly. Taste for seasoning.

After about 1-1/2 hours and mixing in the masa.

7. Serve with cornbread or corn tortillas. If you want to sprinkle a few onions on top, go ahead. But, no cheese. Also, to make this as authentic as possible, DO NOT serve this with beans or rice. If you do, don’t tell me about it.

The finished recipe. Yummy.

Chili, like most other soups and stews, is always better the next day. This freezes well, too.